Jaya Bachchan behind Gowarikar’s Anti-Priyanka rant

While almost the entire industry has criticised Ashutosh Gowarikar for saying on stage that Aishwarya Rai should have won the IIFA Best Actress award for her performance in “Jodhaa Akbar” and not Priyanka Chopra for “Fashion”, it has now emerged that the poor guy was indeed obliging Jaya Bachchan.

For those not in the know, it so happened that after Priyanka collected her award at the ceremony in Macau on June 13, it was Ashu went on stage to receive his Best Director award for “Jodhaa Akbar”.

The first thing that he uttered after taking the mike was, “Priyanka, I love you, but I don't know how you got the award for Best Actress when Aishwarya was also nominated in the same category for ‘Jodhaa Akbar’.”

He further added, “Maybe it is because you are very hard-working and she is a natural.”

But when he realised that he was goofing up he said, “Jayaji was just asking me the same thing," pointing to Jaya Bachchan, who was standing next to him.

Subsequently, everyone thought he had just dragged Jaya into the picture as cover-up for his own mistake. However, in an interview, Jaya Bachchan has admitted that she did ask Ashu to say what he did, and that too in public.

"It is being presumed that Ashutosh unnecessarily mentioned my name regarding Aishwarya's omission from the awards. The fact is, I suggested he bring up the question on stage. We were discussing why Aishwarya had not been given any award for 'Jodhaa Akbar'. I suggested Ashutosh bring up the matter. When he mentioned my name, he wasn't doing anything wrong," Jaya has said.

“I wonder why Aishwarya's fine performance [in ‘Jodhaa Akbar’] was ignored,” she has also said, adding that she has not seen “Fashion”.

May be she should see the movie to get the answer.

Aishwarya Rai Was Ignored at IIFA: Jaya Bachchan

Jaya Bachchan, the veteran bollywood actress and mother-in-law of gorgeous Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, has created a storm by supporting Ashutosh Gowarikar in questioning Priyanka Chopra’s best actress award while ignoring the claims of her daughter-in-law at IIFA in Macau.

Jaya Bachchan feels that Aishwarya Rai’s character of Jodha Bai in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s directorial venture ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ was more deserving of the best actress award than Priyanka Chopra’s role in Madhur Bhandarkar’s flick ‘Fashion’. Though the veteran actress claimed in the same vein that she was yet to see Priyanka Chopra’s film ‘Fashion’ , but it did not make her wait before passing a judgment on Priyanka’s histrionics prowess vis-à-vis Aishwarya Rai.

Sources say that Jaya Bachchan’s displeasure was more pronounced as all other principal actors of ‘Jodhaa Akbar’, including Hrithik Roshan, had won awards in their respective categories. Only Aishwarya Rai and cinematographer Kiran Deohans could not manage to get any awards at the function and this despite the fact that Big B was the brand ambassador of the IIFA function.

It may be recalled that Ashutosh Gowarikar had raised objection at IIFA stage in Macau to Priyanka Chopra getting the best actress award for ‘Fashion’, despite of the fact that Aishwarya, too, had been nominated for the same award category for her role in ‘Jodhaa Akbar’.

This had shocked Priyanka Chopra, who was also present at the award ceremony. The actress was furious with Ashutosh for questioning her acting capability but decided to maintain a dignified silence as she plays the female lead in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s upcoming flick ‘What is Your Rashee?

However, this did not prevent Madhur Bhandarkar, who had directed Priyanka Chopra starrer ‘Fashion’, from slamming Ashutosh Gowarikar for his rude comments and spoiling the golden moment of her actress.

The buzz is that now when Jaya Bachchan has come openly in support of Aishwarya Rai, the whole controversy is bound to take a worse turn for IIFA awards. Sources say that already Shah Rukh Khan and other biggies of the industry avoid this award function, terming it to be a Bachchan family show.

After recent controversy involving Jaya Bachchan, Aishwarya and Priyanka Chopra, it is more likely to be perceived as Big B & family affair, where others do not stand a chance to win any award. This will certainly induce other actors to keep away from this award function, leading to further lowering of credibility.